[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 148 (Tuesday, August 3, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45660-45661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-18991]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Tennessee Department of 
Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, Nashville, TN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of the Tennessee Department of Environment 
and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, Nashville, TN. The human 
remains and associated funerary objects were removed from the Fewkes 
archeological site (40WM1), Williamson County, TN.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). The determinations in this notice are the sole 
responsibility of the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has 
control of the Native American human remains and associated funerary 
objects. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the 
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of 
Archaeology, professional staff in consultation with representatives of 
the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, 
Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma; Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma; 
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North 
Carolina; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Kialegee Tribal Town, 
Oklahoma; Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Oklahoma; Poarch Band of Creek 
Indians, Alabama; Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma; Seminole Nation of 
Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe, Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Oklahoma; 
and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, Oklahoma.
    In 1998, human remains representing a minimum of 21 individuals 
were removed from the Fewkes archeological site (40WM1), in Williamson 
County, TN, by a Tennessee Department of Transportation contractor 
during a data recovery excavation for a state-funded road improvement 
project. In August 1999, the individuals were transferred from the 
Tennessee Department of Transportation contractor to the Tennessee 
Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology. In 
February 2008, the associated funerary objects were transferred. No 
known individuals were identified. The 17 associated funerary objects 
are 2 ceramic earplugs, 1 ceramic earplug fragment, 1 ceramic Beckwith 
Incised frog effigy jar, 1 ceramic human effigy hooded bottle, 1 
ceramic Matthews Incised frog effigy jar, 1 ceramic disk, 1 Clovis 
biface/preform, 2 Madison-style projectile points, 1 Sand Mountain-
style projectile point, 2 greenstone celts, 1 shale gorget, 1 turkey 
bone awl, 1 drilled dog tooth, and 1 bone pin fragment.
    The Fewkes archeological site (40WM1) is a late prehistoric 
Mississippian period mound center located in Brentwood, Williamson 
County, TN. In October 1920, William E. Myer conducted the first 
recorded exploration of this site for the Smithsonian Institution. The 
results of this exploration were published in the 41st Annual Report of 
the Bureau of American Ethnology (pages 561-615), in 1928. Myer 
recorded five mounds (platform and burial), an extensive habitation 
area, and numerous ``stone-box'' graves during his investigation. Among 
the recovered artifacts were shell-tempered pottery jars, bowls, 
bottles, and pans. The recorded earthworks, stone-box graves, and 
shell-tempered ceramic vessels provide unequivocal evidence that this 
site dates to the Mississippian period in middle Tennessee, 
approximately A.D. 1000-1475. Results from modern archeological 
investigations at the site support this cultural assignment (Tennessee 
Department of Transportation, 1995-1998; Middle Tennessee State 
University, 2004; and Tennessee Department of Environment and 
Conservation, Division of Archaeology, 2006).
    Extensive archeological research within the Middle Cumberland River 
valley has identified a virtual abandonment of the area by native 
residents around A.D. 1450 (K. Smith 1992; Moore et al. 2006; Moore and 
Smith 2009). This drastic population reduction has been studied as 
supporting evidence for the ``Vacant Quarter'' hypothesis (Williams 
1990; Cobb and Butler 2002). This hypothesis notes the general 
abandonment of Mississippian sites within portions of the Ohio, 
Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland River drainages around A.D. 
1450-1550. Given the current level of archeological knowledge, and that 
there are no tribal lands in Tennessee, officials of the Tennessee 
Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, 
are not able to identify the descendants of the Fewkes site residents.
    Officials of the Tennessee Department of Environment and 
Conservation, Division of Archaeology, have determined that, pursuant 
to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared group identity cannot be 
reasonably traced between the Native American human remains and 
associated funerary objects and any present-day Indian tribe.
    The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina is the 
aboriginal land tribe under 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), according to the 
decision of the Indian Claims Commission (Land Claim Map 37). 
In addition, the Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians of North Carolina; and the

[[Page 45661]]

United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, Oklahoma, are named in 
treaties for 1784-1894 Land Cessions in Williamson County, TN (Map 
3). On February 29, 2008 and June 26, 2008, the Tennessee 
Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, 
consulted with these Indian tribes recognized as aboriginal to the area 
from which these Native American human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed.
    The Secretary of the Interior may make a recommendation for the 
culturally unidentifiable human remains to be reinterred under State or 
other law. In May 2010, officials of the Tennessee Department of 
Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, requested that 
the Secretary, through the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Review Committee (Review Committee), recommend reinterment 
of the Native American human remains and associated funerary objects 
according to State law, 43 CFR 10.11(c)(2)(ii). The request is to 
reinter under Tennessee state law (T.C.A. 11-6-119), which requires the 
reburial of Native American skeletal remains and associated funerary 
objects. In addition, the Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma, will lead the 
reburial of the removed individuals and associated funerary objects on 
the Fewkes site property in a location selected by the Tennessee 
Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, 
and approved by the City of Brentwood, Williamson County, TN. The 
Chickasaw Nation has performed previous reburials of Mississippian 
period human remains and associated burial objects from middle 
Tennessee. Finally, the Tennessee Department of Environment and 
Conservation, Division of Archaeology, has provided proof that 
consultation has occurred with all Indian tribes from whose aboriginal 
lands the Native American human remains and associated funerary objects 
were removed, and that none have objected to the reinterment.
    On June 11, 2010, the Review Committee considered the proposal for 
reinterment and concurred with the proposal. The Secretary of the 
Interior considered the Review Committee's recommendation in favor of 
the proposal and independently concurred with it. A June 16, 2010, 
letter from the Designated Federal Officer, writing on behalf of the 
Secretary of the Interior, transmitted the authorization for the 
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of 
Archaeology, to reinter the culturally unidentifiable individuals under 
Tennessee state law (T.C.A 11-6-119), contingent on the publication of 
a Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal Register. This notice 
fulfills that requirement. In the same letter, the Secretary of the 
Interior recommended the reinterment of the associated funerary objects 
to the extent allowed by Federal, state, or local law.
    Officials of the Tennessee Department of Environment and 
Conservation, Division of Archaeology, have determined that, pursuant 
to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described above represent the 
physical remains of 21 individuals of Native American ancestry. 
Officials of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, 
Division of Archaeology, also have determined that, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 17 objects described above were placed with the 
individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the 
death rite or ceremony. Lastly, officials of the Tennessee Department 
of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, have received 
a recommendation by the Secretary of the Interior, pursuant to 43 CFR 
10.11(c)(2)(ii), that the human remains and associated funerary objects 
can be reinterred according to Tennessee state law (T.C.A 11-6-119).
    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects or any other Indian tribe that believes it satisfies the 
criteria in 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1) should contact Michael C. Moore, 
Tennessee Division of Archaeology, 1216 Foster Ave., Cole Bldg 
3, Nashville, TN 37243, telephone (615) 741-1588, before 
September 2, 2010. The human remains and associated funerary objects 
may be reinterred after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division 
of Archaeology, is responsible for notifying the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe 
of Oklahoma; Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation, 
Oklahoma; Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma; Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; 
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina; Eastern Shawnee 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Kialegee Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Muscogee (Creek) 
Nation, Oklahoma; Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Alabama; Quapaw Tribe 
of Oklahoma; Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe, Oklahoma; 
Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Oklahoma; and the United Keetoowah Band of 
Cherokee Indians, Oklahoma, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 26, 2010
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-18991 Filed 8-2-10; 8:45 am]
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